The present invention relates to a manually guided apparatus for picking up, sweeping up, or otherwise collecting objects, especially fruits or nuts, such as apples, chestnuts, olives, coffee berries, or the like.
Such an apparatus is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,559. Rotatably mounted in the forward region of a housing that is supported on the ground by wheels is a sweeper drum for sweeping up nuts. The housing is provided as a supporting chassis for a drive motor, and is in the form of a three-wheeled mechanism. The sweeper drum is disposed transverse to the direction of operation, and sweeps the nuts that are to be picked up according to the sweeping principle, whereby the nuts fall into a basket that can be placed into the housing, at the end of the sweeper plate through a gap and a baffle plate. The structural configuration enables a mechanical separation of the nuts that are to be picked up from extra material (dust, dirt, foliage).
This power driven apparatus is guided by a steering rod, but is very large and can therefore be used only on appropriate surfaces. On uneven surfaces it is very difficult to pick up nuts that are lying in low spots on the ground; due to its size, the apparatus cannot be used where plants are close together.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of the aforementioned general type with which it is possible to satisfactorily use the apparatus not only on uneven ground but also where the plants are close together, all at a high collection efficiency.